Warm Welcome
by Epona3
Summary: A follow-up to 4x16. Fluff for the off-season.
1. Chapter 1

Annie had been shuttled from the yacht to an aircraft carrier and then helicoptered to an airstrip in Vietnam where she rode a military cargo jet to the Philippines. In the Philippines, she was able to join some US diplomats that were assessing the US response to the typhoon damage on a private jet back to DC.

Through all of this, she said little more than "Thank you," to anybody. Her near-comatose state on the flight to Dulles led the other passengers to assume she was a young traveler who had been caught in the area during the storm and was suffering from post-traumatic stress. They were right in more ways than one.

The CIA still had no idea how they were going to treat Annie upon her arrival. Other than rewarding her as a hero, she needed thorough debriefings and psychological evaluations. Since her actions were well known to those with the power to decide her future, they were willing to make exceptions to protocol for the immediate days ahead.

This is why, when Annie stepped off the plane in Dulles, Auggie was waiting on the tarmac, rather than the government goons that whisked her away to Bluebonnet almost a year earlier.

She saw him as soon as she stepped out of the door, and her heart began to race. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs and stared at him a moment, caught up in her emotions. Then she let a smile spread across her face and walked directly toward him.

"Hey," She said softly as she got close enough.

"Hey," He responded with warmth in his voice.

She walked until she was standing in front of him.

"Welcome home, Walker." He said, almost uncharacteristically quiet. He was fidgeting with his cane.

Annie had a lot of things to figure out in order to put her life back together, but in her travels she had come to one conclusion about which she didn't need to worry. Without hesitation, she stepped forward and pulled one of his hands to her waist, opening up his body for her to press into.

Auggie reacted quickly and pulled her close as their arms wrapped around each other. He held her tight as she reciprocated. For a moment, neither of them said anything.

Finally, he pressed a kiss onto the top of her head and spoke. "I tried to get them to give you some time, but after all that happened, the DCI wants to see you immediately."

"Of course." Annie responded, standing up straight and looking around the tarmac and noticing the black SUV. She brushed Auggie's arm to give him a lead.

"The biggest challenge right now is going to be the psych evaluations. Just be careful about those, Annie. They can hurt you as much as help."

Annie swallowed. "They can hurt my chances of continuing with the Agency, you mean."

Auggie squeezed her elbow and pulled them to a stop. "I'm with you, Annie. However you want to go forward."

"You have no idea what that means right now." Annie replied.

He moved his hand to her face. "I hope that I do."

"Let's get this out of the way," She said, pulling away from his touch slightly.

Auggie obediently moved back to his position on her arm and they continued to walk to the car.

Once in the back seat together, Annie could only focus on business. "What sort of firestorm am I walking into?" She asked.

"One that now sees the whole picture of what we were working toward, and that thinks of you as a hero."

"Braithwaite?" Annie asked.

"Gone," Auggie replied, not elaborating.

"Calder?"

"Acting DCS at the moment. He's not ready to go overt, though, so Joan is likely to regain the position. Or Arthur. That's all up in the air."

"What about you?"

"Not sure yet. The Agency is focusing on more important things than the impending re-org."

"They haven't offered you anything?"

"There are a lot of things up in the air right now, Annie."

"It's possible that what I'm willing to do depends on you being with me." She responded.

Auggie sighed. "Annie, you've proven yourself to be the most competent field agent, ever. What you have done is getting you all of the respect that you deserve. I just hope that, whatever you decide to do, you know that you have something to live for."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you've shown that you are willing to take risks, and that you can survive where nobody else will. They aren't likely to reward that with a vacation."

"I don't know what a vacation would be, at this point."

Auggie gently reached for her hand and pulled it in his direction. "I was kind of hoping we could figure that out together."

Annie smiled. "I like that idea, though I'm not sure if I'm that pleasant of a travel companion at the moment."

Auggie shrugged. "As long as I don't get shot."

Annie was silent. She felt guilty about Auggie getting hurt in all of this.

"Or, if I have to get shot to go on vacation with you, I'm willing to reconsider that part of the deal."

Annie shook off the thoughts. "I hope that part of our lives is behind us."

"How about we start at Allen's? It's a fairly safe location." Auggie suggested.

"That sounds nice."

* * *

_**A/N Just spent the weekend doing some super brainstorming on potential off-season fics, but before I moved on to working on my other works in progress (ie: Overt!) or starting something else that may be more intense, I wanted to have a nice fluffy ending for the story that we got.**_

_**Special thanks to WillyNilly for making me pancakes this morning while I sat on the couch and wrote. **_

_**I look forward to seeing everybody else's version! **_


	2. Chapter 2

Allen's felt wrong.

Annie and Auggie were at their usual table and they had a pitcher of beer between them. It tasted right, but the whole light-hearted feeling that she associated with the place didn't match her current mood. From Auggie's expression, he felt the same way.

"Would you be upset if I didn't want to finish this pitcher?" She asked.

Auggie was immediately concerned, but sat his mug on the table. "Not at all. What's wrong?" He asked.

"Nothing. I just feel like being somewhere a little more private tonight."

"I get that." He said. "How about I buy us a six pack at the bar, and we take it back to my place?"

She didn't immediately respond.

"Annie?"

"Yeah," she responded. "That sounds fine."

Auggie didn't completely believe her, but knew that she had plenty to work out. "I'll be right back."

Annie was quiet as they drove to Auggie's place, and didn't say much more as they put the beers in the fridge and settled on the couch. Annie pulled her knees to her chest and sat sideways, staring at Auggie.

"Anything you want to talk about?" Auggie asked.

"Sorry. I'm still just processing some things. Do you want to put on some music or something?"

Auggie walked over to his record collection and fingered through the albums, trying to figure out which would be appropriate for their moods that evening. He found a record that he hadn't listened to for years, and put it on the turntable.

The music filled the awkward silence as Auggie returned to the couch and his beer.

"I listened to this album a lot, right after Iraq." He said. "I was uncertain of so much, and putting my life back together seemed so overwhelming at times. This album isn't that good, really. But for some reason it was what I gravitated toward. It was background music as I sorted out my life. I haven't really listened to it at all, since."

Annie didn't respond.

"I know that our situations are different, but I would like to think that I have a fairly good idea what you are going through, Annie."

Annie still couldn't get herself to talk, but she reached for his hand, to let him know that she appreciated him.

They sat and listened to the music for a little while.

"How long did it take?" Annie finally asked, quietly.

Auggie shrugged. "It wasn't like a switch was flipped or anything. For me, the big thing was when I went back to work." He squeezed Annie's hand. "For you, I think this is going to be all about your sister."

Annie nodded. "You don't talk about your family much."

Auggie shrugged. "I didn't make much of an effort for them to be a part of my life after the accident."

"I guess that is an option for me, as well."

Auggie cringed. "Your situation is different. You and your sister are close."

"We used to be." Annie replied.

"And you will, again." He said with the same confidence that led her from every scary situation she had encountered as an agent.

"My sister isn't that forgiving."

"She's family," Auggie replied. "And she has shown that she will move heaven and earth for you."

Annie looked at her fingers, wrapped around his. "What about us?"

"I want us." Auggie said, bluntly.

"I do, too." Annie said, softly. "That's the easiest decision for me, right now."

The reaction on Auggie's face pulled a smile out of Annie. He sat his beer on the spill tray and gave her a light pull toward him. She moved so that their bodies were touching, but didn't lean in for a kiss. Still, he bent and placed one on her neck.

"I'll be ready, whenever you are." Auggie said.

Annie sighed. "Thanks."

After a half hour of sitting in each other's arms listening to the music, Annie got up. "Come to bed." She said, simply.

Auggie silently obeyed, following her up the stairs. He expected a kiss, tug at his belt, or another sign of intimacy, but instead she kept walking into the bathroom, where he could hear her brushing her teeth.

"I just realized that I don't have any clothes." Annie said as she walked out of the bathroom.

"That's not usually a problem," Auggie said seductively.

An awkward silence fell on them for a moment.

"Help yourself to whatever you need of mine." Auggie said, his tone more serious. "And make yourself comfortable on the bed. I'll take the couch."

He walked toward the bathroom when she caught his arm. "No." She said. Her voice was soft, but firm.

"To what part?" He replied, slightly insecure.

"The couch. I don't want to be alone."

Auggie smiled. "So, help yourself to my clothes, and make yourself comfortable on the bed. I'll be right there."

He stepped out of the bathroom and heard her climbing into the bed. "Need me to hit any of the lights?" He asked.

"No," She replied from the bed.

Auggie walked around the bed and sat his watch on the bedside table. In the dim light from the window, Annie watched him change into a pair of cotton pajama pants and climb into bed beside her. He cautiously reached in her direction, and she responded by curling into his side.

He ran his fingers through her hair. It was soothing for both of them. Auggie noticed that her hair felt different, and assumed this was from the change in color. He was contemplating this as Annie's body began to lightly shake in his arms as she quietly cried. He continued to touch her soothingly, and placed a reassuring kiss to the top of her head. He didn't try to reassure her with words, because he knew how useless they could be.

Annie quietly cried herself to sleep. Auggie was careful not to disturb her as he found a comfortable position for himself. For the first time in ages, they both slept through the night.

...

_**I'm trying to recover from some serious writer's block. If you have very specific Walkerson stuff you want to see (in any of my universes) let me know! I know some of you have given me requests, and I'm trying to make things happen. But... blockage. **_

_**Thank you, as always, for all of the support. **_


End file.
